In June, a ship left the port of Bremerhaven, Germany. It crossed the Atlantic Ocean, unloading its cargo in Halifax two weeks later.
Some of that shipment — which had its origin in a factory in Valencia, Spain — was put on a train to Winnipeg. Then it was transferred onto a truck headed for Vancouver where it had one more journey by water — down the Burrard Inlet to an old barge that once transported woodchips from B.C. mills.
On Saturday night, after a journey that spanned more than 15,000 kilometres, that precious cargo will light up the skies over Vancouver in one amazing burst of fireworks after another.
In 25 minutes, all that will be left are scattered remnants of cardboard and tinfoil — and thousands of photos and videos posted to social media.
No one will be more keenly interested in what happens during those 25 minutes than Dominick Vermaak.
Back in January, he sat at his computer in Johannesburg, South Africa designing the fireworks display that he hopes will wow the hundreds of thousands of people in Vancouver this Saturday.
“We’ve decided to so some big moments when they will least be expected,” he said during a media tour of the barge Friday morning.
So instead of thinking that you’ll see the biggest bursts of colour as the music hits a crescendo, be attuned to those “small little moments” in songs that hold their own potential for beauty.
The theme of all of this year’s displays is love. Vermaak has tapped into songs from Metallica, Passenger, Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran and Calvin Harris featuring Ellie Golding.
His own love of fireworks began when he was 10. In South Africa, there are only 12 days a year when it’s legal for people to buy fireworks for personal use. That December day, much to the angst of his mother, he bought his first round of “rockets.”
Luckily, he knew someone in the business and was able to get a job in a fireworks company, first as a box carrier. Once he got his licence to be a pyrotechnics technician at the age of 19, he worked his way up. He had to do 50 indoor shows — “theatrical stuff” — before he was allowed to move to the night sky variety.
Today he works for Fireworks For Africa. Asked why the company was willing to spend thousands of dollars to compete in the Honda Celebration of Light, he says, “I think if you compete on a global platform it gets you recognition to do other events. People go onto YouTube and then, for instance, Congo Independence Days phones you up. It’s about recognition. I don’t think many people know South Africa is good at fireworks.”
It takes 14 to 16 people, all trained in pyrotechnics, to set up each of the three shows in the Honda Celebration of Light, which this year takes place on July 28 (South Africa), Aug. 1 (Sweden) and Aug. 4 (South Korea.)
Overseeing it all is Kelly Guille, the festival’s pyrotechnic expert. On each night, he’ll also be one of only four people allowed on the barge anchored in English Bay to make sure everything goes smoothly. They’ll be stationed in a tiny “office” made with bulletproof plexiglass and corrugated tin. Earmuffs will be required.
On Friday, crews were still loading the mortars with the well-packed shells that made the journey from Germany. Asked whether it was dangerous to have the shells exposed to the hot summer sun for a few days, Guille said that rain causes a bigger threat, and that’s only if the shells are covered in plastic tarpaulins for weeks on end.
“Sun is the enemy of the fatigue of the crew, not the fireworks themselves,” he says.
On Friday, the crew was dressed in shorts and t-shirts — no explosive blast suits to be seen.
“As you can tell by my body shape, I’ve never had to run away,” laughs Port Moody’s Brian Oberquell, a special effects assistant who teaches people who want to get their pyrotechnics licence, as he wired some shells.
Let’s just say he doesn’t compete in the BMO Vancouver marathon.
For Guille, it’s no big deal overseeing a fireworks show set on a barge. “It’s could be a field in the back of anywhere. In that way, it’s just a big rectangle. But I’m a Prairie boy so I have to get used to the rocking every time on the barge.”
When all is said and done, after all those kilometres crossed, and hours spent putting shells into mortars in the sand in a barge off the coast of Vancouver, on the night of the fireworks, there’s very little to be done once dusk descends.
“It’s all automated — a single button,” says Guille. That buttons sends a pulse to the fuse and then…
You be the judge. If you want to help determine this year’s winner, download the Honda Celebration of Light app to rate each team.
You can find all sorts of details about the fireworks, including entertainment at Second Beach from 2 to 9 p.m., and a guest appearance of the Canadian Forces Snowbirds, go to HondaCelebrationofLight.com.
